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Journalism of Courage
Ram Rati Devi wants to sing one last time in praise of her messiah, and then fade away. She is Laloo Prasad Yadav8217;s nightingale who accompanied him in his gareeb chetna rath in the 1995 successful election campaign, adding rhyme to Laloo8217;s rhetoric. With another election round the corner, she is finding her spirit willing, but the flesh reluctant.
High blood pressure and a heart condition that chokes her voice at times, had put her out of action in the 1999 parliament and the 2000 assembly elections. 8216;8216;This time I must go to Chapra and Madhepura to sing for saheb,8217;8217; Ram Rati says. Laloo is contesting from both constituencies. There she will sing in Bhojpuri: Hamni gareebvanke, dukhwa hazar, udar kari hei, zindagi hamaraho Laloo bhaiya We poor have a thousand sorrows, but brother Laloo has brought us a new life.
This and other songs composed by Ram Deo Paswan and sung by Ram Rati were indispensable in the Laloo road show till she became ill. They were as alluring as Laloo8217;s oratory.
In return for all the minds and votes she swayed, Laloo has been generous8212;getting her son a job, a small house for her under the Chitkoda flyover in Patna. Both Laloo and Rabri attended her daughter8217;s wedding. And she has access to Laloo anytime. These are her lonely days, but Ram Rati Devi has shared dais with V P Singh, S R Bommai, Ram Vilas Paswan and A R Kidwai. Another son of Ram Rati was given a job in the railways when Paswan became the railway minister. 8216;8216;Those days they were all together,8217;8217; she remembers.
She and Ram Deo were part of a village orchestra that observed the Kabir panth and would sing bhajans. Displaced from their Tenua village in Samastipur by a flood in 1987, these landless Dalits migrated to Patna. From the slum near Patna veterinary college, she watched the magical forces of history lifting a neighbour of theirs, Laloo Prasad, to the throne of Bihar in 1990. One day, she managed to reach Laloo8217;s durbar and sung a nirgun bhajan to him. After that there was no looking back. She fine tuned her talents to the rigorous requirement of political propaganda. Laloo even conferred upon her 8216;Kabir Kokila,8217; perhaps an instant honour that he devised. However, as one of her songs goes8212;sab din hotna ek saman all days are not alike.
Besides her illness that kept her off stage, Laloo too developed cold feet. From a connoisseur of subaltern arts, he turned into a seeker of tantrik solutions for his fodder problems. 8216;8216;Laloo has not been the same after the scam broke. He no longer could enjoy the dance and songs,8217;8217; says a friend.
These days, dance and songs rare at Laloo8217;s house. He wanted to skip even Holi celebrations this year. But when he finally gave in to the wishes of his followers, Ram Rati was right there to put a red tilak on his forehead.
She may not be that active now, but Ram Rati is particular about spending at least a few days for saheb8217;s campaign. And make a request to Laloo in the end: 8216;8216;Please offer one petal, when I die.8217;8217;
